There was a young son who didn’t want to follow in his dad’s footsteps and continue in the family’s heritage. This son asked his father for his portion of his inheritance so he could go his way and live his life. The father let him go. The son went and lived how he wanted. He had many friends, lots of fun and thought he was having the time of his life. Until the money ran out. Then no more friends, so were they really ever friends? No more fun, but was it really all that much fun? No more living it up, then was he having the time of his life? Then he had to join himself to a citizen of that country (became a servant) so he could have a bed, food and water. He eventually reached the point the starvation, that while feeding the citizen’s swine he filled his belly with the husks that the pigs were eating. He thought to himself, How many of my father’s hired servants have enough bread to eat with even enough to spare. Yet here I am starving!! He knew then he must return to his father (go home), ask for forgiveness and ask to be one of his father’s hired servants. For he was no longer worthy to be called his son. The son had to get to the point of having nothing, he was flat on his back in misery because he traveled so far from the love that he already had. He strayed far from home.
We do the same with our Lord and the path He has for us. There are times we think we know better than our Father, we blindly desire to live it up and we walk away. God, the Father, lets us go just as this father let his son. Because the son had to learn for himself what he needed and wanted in his life. Just as we must learn what we want and need in our lives. And when we have reached the end of our rope, in pure misery; we’re hungry, we’re thirsty, and filthy it’s then that we realize we are not actually living the “good” life. We realize that we can have a better life, that the Father is waiting for us to return home. And when we humbly come before Him and truly ask for forgiveness: He forgives us, He cleans us up, He feeds us, and He fills us up with that living water so we’ll never thirst again.
Please return to the Father today. Come home!!